Beginning a three-game road trip against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night against former coach Jim Montgomery, the Boston Bruins got a huge addition to the lineup. After missing five straight games with a lower-body injury, the Black and Gold got David Pastrnak back into the lineup. He was a game-time decision after the morning skate, but made his first appearance in 13 days.
It was a welcome addition to the lineup for head coach Marco Sturm, who ended up mixing up his lines. He placed Pastrnak on a line with Marat Khusnutdinov and Fraser Minten. It was an interesting line, but it turned out to be a tremendous move by Boston's first-year coach.
Pastrnak picked up a pair of assists in the game, but Minten greatly benefited from playing Boston's superstar by scoring two goals as the Bruins began their road trip with a second win over Montgomery and the Blues in five days to sweep the season series.
Bruins begin road trip with win over Blues
It was a tough beginning for the Bruins, who fell behind early on a St. Louis power play goal. The first period was a tough way to begin the trip, but Jeremy Swayman was up to the challenge, keeping his teammates in the game.
In the second period, Minten tied the game with his first goal before Mark Kastelic scored the first of his two goals when a shot from Victor Soderstrom deflected off of Kastelic in front of the net for a 2-1 lead just 1:46 after Minten's goal. In the third period, Minten and Kastelic scored after Robert Thomas scored his second goal to tie the game. Pavel Zacha ended the game with an empty-net goal.
9️⃣3️⃣ KNOTS IT UP! pic.twitter.com/2Fpq6nr45o
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 10, 2025
The story of the game was Swayman. He made 24 saves, but his biggest saves were when Boston was trailing in the first period and early in the second. He won his 13th game of the season. It was a good start to what is a tough trip that continues on Thursday night against the Winnipeg Jets.